By Carol Pipes
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Lifeway Christian Resources recently announced plans to take up residence at Maryland Farms in Brentwood by the end of 2022. In the wake of strong performance in 2021, Lifeway will relocate to a mixed-use, state-of-the-art facility with a layout that promotes creativity and collaboration.
“We look forward to being a part of the Maryland Farms community,” said Lifeway CEO Ben Mandrell. “This will be an exciting area and a great space for our team to create and collaborate. Our new space will be a haven for fresh ideas and creative thinking.”
Lifeway will move from their current location in Nashville’s Capitol View neighborhood to 46,000 square feet of leased office space about 11 miles south of its current facility. Located at 200 Powell Place, the building is part of the Maryland Farms mixed-use community with access to restaurants, shopping, a greenway and park, and home to a variety of businesses.
“Selling our large building downtown and moving to a smaller, more open footprint is part of a larger, strategic vision for the organization,” Mandrell said. “The new location allows us to be better stewards of our resources and is a better fit for the culture we’ve created at Lifeway.”
Mandrell said employees will continue to work remotely the majority of the time and will come to the building for collaborative work. With Lifeway’s work-from-anywhere culture, he said they decided to forgo a traditional office-space model and instead create a space designed for strategic meetings and creative brainstorming.
“Lifeway has been a leader when it comes to remote-based work and redefining the corporate office. We’ve moved from a corporate-headquarters mindset to a teaming-space mindset. Imagine an environment that feels more like a college student union than a corporate headquarters,” he said.
“Lifeway had already embraced a remote work culture, before Zoom was a household word,” Mandrell said. “We learned during the pandemic that our team was just as efficient working from home as they were from the office—maybe more. We want to continue to offer that flexibility and maximize those efficiencies while providing opportunities for face-to-face interaction.”
Connia Nelson, Lifeway’s chief human resources officer, acknowledged that work styles have changed among the staff since moving to a fully remote, flexible work environment.
“The layout of the new building will provide all types of creative spaces where employees will be motivated and inspired to work together in community. Teams will have collaborative spaces to meet in groups, while individual employees will have a variety of quiet workspaces to choose from based on their work style,” Nelson said. “We want to support a culture of hybrid work where flexibility leads the way with an emphasis on connectivity, giving employees the power to work from anywhere, anytime.”
The new space will be a mix of meeting rooms, drop-in workstations, a social hub, private spaces for phone and video calls, as well as spaces for individualized work that requires concentration. The plans also call for state-of-the-art podcast, video and photography studios, as well as post-production suites. Technology throughout the building will allow for connectivity and interaction with employees working around the country.
Lifeway has occupied its current home in Nashville’s Capitol View neighborhood since 2017. While Lifeway sold the Capitol View building in 2021, they are leasing back space until the move can be completed.
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Carol Pipes is Lifeway’s director of corporate communications.
About Lifeway Christian Resources
In operation since 1891, Lifeway Christian Resources is one of the leading providers of Christian resources, including Bibles, books, Bible studies, Christian music and movies, VBS, and church supplies, as well as camps and events for all ages. Lifeway is the world’s largest provider of Spanish Bibles. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, Lifeway operates as a self-supporting nonprofit.
